Quality of Commercially Produced Ice Cream Sold in Sylhet City, Bangladesh.

Ice cream is a popular dairy product in the world. Its chemical and microbial quality has always been remarkably important to consumer. The aims of this study were to investigate chemical and microbiological quality of ice cream from four companies (Igloo, Kwality, Polar and Baby) sold in Sylhet city, Bangladesh. Total solids (TS), Fat, Protein, Ash, and Acidity content, total viable count and coliform counts were measured Standard procedure. There were highly significant differences (P<0.001) within the chemical parameters of ice cream from different companies. Ice cream from Kwality Company contained 3.48% protein, 36.30% total solids, 13.00% fat, 1.05% ash and 0.22% acidity which were higher than other companies. Total viable bacteria were in the range of 1942cfu/gm to 3692cfu/gm. Coliform counts of the ice cream samples from Igloo, Kwality, Polar and Baby were 16.00, 12.42, 36.17 and 47.17cfu/g respectively. Ice cream from Kwality Company was superior to other companies on the basis of chemical and microbial parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]